Rays 4/19/19 pre-game notes; roster moves

Catcher Nick Ciuffo has been recalled to take the place of Mike Zunino, who was placed on paternity leave Friday.

The Tampa Bay Rays look to bounce back from a 6-5, extra innings loss when they open a three-game set against the Boston Red Sox on Friday. The Rays made a handful of roster moves ahead of the 7:10 first pitch.

Since Tampa Bay used six pitchers last night, the team has made a roster move today to provide a fresh arm to the bullpen. Additionally, Mike Zunino has been placed on the paternity list ahead of the birth of him, and his wife Alyssa’s first child.

Nick Ciuffo has been recalled from Triple-A Durham to fill in behind Michael Perez, Casey Sadler — who is 0-0 with a 2.57 ERA in seven innings over two appearances while striking out 13 at Triple-A Durham — has been promoted, and Emilio Pagan was optioned back to Durham. In order to make room for Sadler on the 40-man roster, Jose De Leon was moved to the 60-day IL.

Meanwhile, former Rays hurler Erasmo Ramirez has been designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, who promoted a pair of infielders. The specifics around those particular roster moves are unimportant because, well, this isn’t a Red Sox blog.

Speaking of the Red Sox though, the Rays will face (I know, poor word choice) the reigning, and abysmal, World Series champs for the first time this season. And while this is, by and large, the same team that won 108 games last season, Boston has the worst run differential in the American League at -42.

The New What Next

Opener Ryne Stanek (0-0, 1.93 ERA) will get the start for the Rays tonight and will likely be followed by Ryan Yarbrough (2-1, 4.82 ERA). They will pitch opposite of left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (1-2, 7.98 ERA).

Ryne Stanek worked around a hit while striking out three in one inning of work as the opener on Wednesday. The right-hander gave way to Yonny Chirinos after throwing 14 pitches (10 for strikes, 71% strike rate). Stanek now has a 1.93 ERA and 6.5 K/BB through 9-1/3 innings.

Ryan Yarbrough picked up the win after tossing two scoreless frames and striking out one on Friday. The southpaw was efficient on the mound, needing just 16 total pitches (12 strikes) to get through six batters. Yarbrough was coming off a disastrous outing Saturday against San Francisco (allowing four runs allowed across three innings) but managed to get back on track in the 11-7 victory.

Eduardo Rodriguez picked up the win Friday after allowing two runs on three hits and while striking out eight over 6-2/3 innings. Rodriguez surrendered a two-run blast in the seventh inning, yet it turned out to be one of the few mistakes he made on the night. He struggled through his first two outings of the season (11 runs allowed across eight innings) but managed to return to form. Rodriguez relies primarily on a whiffy 93 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action and a hard 88 mph worm-killer changeup, while also mixing in an 88 mph cutter with natural sink and cutting action and a whiffy 92 mph sinker. Key Matchups: Tommy Pham (2-5, 2B, RBI), Daniel Robertson (1-2)